Monday, April 29, 2013

On the Road Again- Garden Route

“On the
road again, goin’ places that I’ve never been, seein’ things that I may never
see again, I can’t wait to get on the road again.” - Willie Nelson

David and I set out for our first South African road trip
on the Garden Route over the long Easter weekend. We decided just the week
before that we were going so we didn't do much research or planning, we just
hit the road!

The Garden Route is a popular and scenic stretch of the
south-eastern coast of South Africa. It stretches from Mossel Bay in the
Western Cape to Storms River in the most western part of the Eastern Cape.

We started off Thursday afternoon with a long 5 hour drive
to Knysna. Kynsna is a very scenic town located on the shore of a lagoon
created by two cliffs on the Indian Ocean.

On Friday, we spent the day at coffee shops on Thesen
Island, oyster eating at the waterfront, and hiking out to the scenic “Two
Heads”.

Saturday morning we visited the Knysna
Elephant Park- one of the greatest adventures so far during our time here in
South Africa. Knysna Elephant Park is a sanctuary for the southern most elephants in the world. We had a chance to feed them and get
up close and personal with them- much more so than we would have on a safari or
game reserve.

Afterwards, we headed out towards Port
Elizabeth. On the way, we stopped in Tsitsikamma to see a few brave individuals
take a dive off the world’s largest bungee jump- 216 meters to be exact! Don’t
worry- I wouldn’t let David get us anywhere near the sign up desk!

Bright
and early Sunday morning, we found ourselves in Jeffery’s Bay, the surfing
capitol of South Africa, for a quick breakfast and a chance to put my toes in
the Indian Ocean for the first time! We
hit the road again for our trip back west on the scenic R62 towards our next
stop in Oudtshoorn.

Oudtshoorn is
a popular town in the Karoo that is known for ostrich farms. After a couple of
ostrich burgers for dinner, we spent the night outside in a “lodge tent” surrounded
by ostriches. The next morning, David attempted to ride an ostrich but he weighed
too much!